THE HARRIERS HERALD

No. 171, May 2007

Editor: Sue Francis

 

In brief

·         Thursday night schedules for May and June

·         Correspondence received in April

·         Details of IAH-Compton Relay

 

·         Good luck to Lucy, who will be running the 145-mile Grand Union Canal Race at the end of the month

·         Thanks to Mo and Sus for their contributions this month

·         Copy date for June’s Harriers Herald:  30^th May

 

Features and reports

·         Six Harriers ‘do the club proud’ in the London Marathon

·         A Berkshire County silver medal for Sus

·         Seventh place for Sus in the Highworth 5

·         A win for Mo in the Handicap Race

·         Website Update - Mo features Howard Grubb’s age-graded race performance calculator

·         Events Diary – Mo’s choice of races for the summer months

 

 

Thursday night schedule for May

Thurs    3^rd        Pete to lead

Thurs    10^th         IAH Relay

Thurs    17^th       Ryan to lead

Thurs    24^th       Martin to lead

Thurs    31^st       Sue to lead

 

Thursday night schedule for June

Thurs    7^th        Kev to lead

Thurs    14^th       Handicap Race

Thurs    21^st       Mo to lead

Thurs    28^th       Boundary Race? – to be confirmed

 

 

Correspondence received
Sender	Subject matter	Action
Dumfries / Galloway Council	Stranraer Half Marathon (02-06-07)	Events Diary & notice board
St Albans Sports & Leisure	St. Albans Half Marathon (10-06-07)	Events Diary & notice board
Nirvana Europe	European road race tours	Notice board
SEAA	Info. update #107; Road running forum reminder (28-04-07)	File
England Athletics	Receipt for our club & individual subscriptions	File
Running4Women Ltd.	Windsor Great Park Women’s 8K (29-09-07) Brighton Women’s 8K (14-10-07)	Events Diary & notice board
Great North Run	Guaranteed (but not free) entry for one male club member (who’s run better than 1:25 for a Half in the last 12 months) and one lady member (who’s run faster than 1:40); will start in reserved area directly behind elite men; must enter before 1st June	Anyone interested? – I think only Sus qualifies at present

 

 

IAH-Compton Relay Race 2007 – Thursday 10^th May

Sue

 

The Institute’s Annual Relay will start at 5:30 pm from the cricket field.  Each stage (1.6 miles, or 2530 metres) will start and finish in the cricket field.  As in previous years, there will be start time advantages depending on the number of ladies and veterans in a team (ladies 2 min, veterans 0.5 min, super-veterans (over-50) 1 min).  Currently, eleven teams of four (some incomplete) have entered.  If you’d like to run, but don’t have a team, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with others in the same situation.

The bar will be open and the barbecue burning, and there is a Pickled Pig drink voucher to each competitor and helper.  Weather permitting, it should be a fun evening.

 

 

Highworth 5, 15^th April

Sus

 

I do not think any of us have done this race before, which is a shame.  Excellent, and very friendly atmosphere.  The route is country roads, slightly down hill for the first 4 miles but then you pay for it in the last mile.  Finishing in the school’s sports ground where you are looking forward to throwing yourself on the floor after your ordeal – but don’t, several people will come up to you to see if you are ok, so in the end it is advisable just to stand up.  For all this, you are rewarded with a free T-shirt and home-made cake for a barging.  The race fills up rather quickly (max. 500) and they do not take entries on the day.

 

First man          Tim Crossland, Leeds City Army          25:37

First lady          Jane Wassell, Cirencester A.C.             30:20

Sus (7^th overall lady)                                                     34:28

 

Total 486 finished the race

 

 

Flora London Marathon, 22^nd April

 

Well done to our six marathoners who all put in fantastic performances despite the exceptionally hot weather.  Their official chip times are listed below.  Special congratulations to Susanne whose performance (a personal best time) has earned her a silver medal in the Berkshire County Marathon Championship.

 

Martin                    3:03:09

Susanne                  3:29:22

Ryan                      3:37:11

Lucy                       3:44:39

Pete                       3:45:11

Rich                       4:00:31

 

(Kev has unfortunately had to hold over his entry until 2008, due to injury)

 

And well done to Tom, who won the grand cash prize in the ‘Harriers Marathon Sweepstake’.

London Marathon

Susanne

 

I had some unfinished business with the London Marathon: a sub 3:30, last year I did not succeed, now I had the chance again.  Our good man Dick had driven us all the way up to the start line so all we runners had to concentrate on was the race – how much more privileged can you get!  I was optimistic when I stood by the start line but not to sure about the weather but as long as I drank at every station I was determined it should not hold me back.

I knew I had to run max 8 min pr. mile and I was doing app. 7:40 up till mile 17 but then I felt that one of the wheels started to get a bit loose.  “Keep focusing” I kept telling myself.  At one point I thought I better get rid of things I did not intend to use more during the race, and my trusted “hand socks” which had kept my face damped between the water stations flew through the air out to spectators, I compared it to a plane rapidly losing fuel and the cargo had to go while still in the air.

The end was near and as I approached the finish clock I could see it had turned to 3:31, I knew I had started a couple of minutes later so I ran with what was not left in me and stopped my watch when I crossed the finish line – it said 3:29:22!  Two helpers came to my assistance and parked me up by the barrier and after some time a third person helped me up to the chip removal team – what a service.  I now only had one thing to do, collect my bags and walk the sweet painful walk back to the waiting team.

 

So, London, see you next year where I will be standing on the right side of the barrier with a whistle in my mouth!

 

 

Handicap Race

 

Eight regular Harriers were joined by new recruit, Don, for our first daylight handicap race of 2007.  The weather was perfect for running and this was reflected in a good set of times.  Mo made an 11-second improvement on his March time, which enabled him to hold his lead all the way, to win the trophy ahead of last month’s champ, Rich.  Rich recorded another very respectable time, showing how much he has improved since joining our wonderful club.  Sue was 3^rd, in her fastest time for 6 months, while Sus (4^th) narrowly missed a P.B.  Another solid performance from Pete gave him fifth spot, while Don, ably guided round the route by an injured Ryan, established a good time.  Freya just passed Lucy at the finish, and Martin completed the field in 9^th spot.

 

Well done Mo, and thanks to Jan for timing.  There will be no Handicap Race in May.  The next one is scheduled for Thursday 14^th June, possibly around a different route – to be confirmed (Susanne suggested an alternative off-road, car-free route for summer handicap races; she’s measured the route at 2.1 miles so it is about 300m longer than the Village Lap route).

 

There are now new joint leaders in the Handicap Championship.  Pete and Sue, both on 16 points, have moved ahead of Kev, while good performances by Mo and Rich means they are also chasing the leaders.  But remember! - at the end of the nine-race series, only your best seven scores will count so nothing will be certain until the last race is over.

 

Pos	Name	Start time	Finish time	Actual time	Handicap Beaten?
1	Mo	0:39	19:12	18:33	-0:48
2	Rick	7:00	19:24	12:24	-0:36
3	Sue	7:45	19:34	11:49	-0:26
4	Sus	7:03	19:38	12:35	-0:22
5	Pete	6:47	19:47	13:00	-0:13
6	Don	6:12	19:50	13:38	New runner
7	Freya	7:11	19:56	12:45	-0:04
8	Lucy	6:23	19:57	13:34	-0:03
9	Martin	8:51	20:29	11:38	+0:29

 

Pos.	Name	Race points
		Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Race 9	Total
1=	Pete	5	4	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	16
1=	Sue	4	5	2	5	-	-	-	-	-	16
3	Kev	7	6	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	14
4=	Rich	-	-	7	6	-	-	-	-	-	13
4=	Mo	-	-	6	7	-	-	-	-	-	13
6	Lucy	6	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	8
7	Ryan	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
8	Susanne	-	2	1	4	-	-	-	-	-	7
9	Freya	-	1	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	6
10=	Kirsty	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
10=	Martin	3	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	5
12	Matt	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
13=	Andy	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
13=	Dick	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
13=	Don	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
13=	Tom	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1

 

Website update… http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk

Mo

 

 

 

Sus sent me a link this month to ask me if I could explain how to use Howard Grubb’s Age Grade performance table.  The website link is http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup06.html , a site I previously featured 3 or 4 years ago.  Howard Grubb studied at Bath University the same time as Sue F and both were on the university athletics club committee at the same time.  Sue told me that Howard did a PhD in statistics and she lost touch when after university until she bumped into him again about 10 years ago at the Lambourn 5 mile race.  I ran in that race as well and Sue reminded me that a man called Hefin Richards won the race and at the presentation I whispered in her ear that I bet he was a ‘hefin nuisance’ as well … as if I would!

 

Anyway, back to the web link … I can see why Sus was confused … it is a bit difficult to get your head around it, but I think I can explain in normal English rather than in statistician’s language.

 

In the ‘Events’ section of the grading table, just enter your race distance (e.g. 26.2 miles for the London Marathon) followed by 41 in the ‘Age’ box and tick the ‘F’ for female then insert your race time in the format 3:29:22.  Next, click the ‘Age Grading’ button … this will automatically calculate figures for the other boxes based on the WMA (World Masters Athletics) gradings.  You will see that your age grading time is 3:17:32 … this is the time you would have achieved between the ages of 20-30 years with the same effort.

 

In the bottom left hand corner of the table, the ‘Open Std’ time of 2:15:16 is shown … this is the world best set by Paula Radcliffe in 2005.  The ‘Age std’ box shows a time of 2:23:22 which is the time a 40 year old female could theoretically achieve with the same effort as Paula. (Note the world best is 2:26:51 … see http://www.world_masters_athletics.org .  The last box on the right hand side shows 68.48% which means that if you increase your performance by just over 30% you will reach your age standard … and beat the world record !!

 

Now the other clever thing you can do with the table is to work out what times you should be able to achieve over other distances, based on your marathon performance.  To do this, just leave all the figures in the table as they are and enter another distance in the ‘distance’ box and then click the ‘Result’ button.

 

 

Events
- Sprints - 50m 55m 60m 100m 200m 300m 400m 500m 600m 800m	- Hurdles - 50 Hur 55 Hur 60 Hur Short Hur Long Hur Steeple	- Distance - 1000m 1500m 1Mile 2km 3km 2Mile 4km 3Mile 5km 6km 4Mile 8km 5Mile 10km - Road - 5kmRoad 6kmRoad 4MileRoad 8kmRoad 5MileRoad 10kmRoad 12km 15km 10Mile 20km Half mar 25km 30km Marathon 50km 50Mile 100km 150km 100Mile 200km	Distance: miles km
- Walks - 1500m Walk 1Mile Walk 3km Walk 5km Walk 8km Walk 10km Walk 15km Walk 20km Walk H.Mar. Walk 25km Walk 30km Walk 40km Walk Mar. Walk 50km Walk	- Throws - Discus Javelin Shotput Hammer Weight	- Jumps - Long Jump Triple Jump High Jump Pole Vault
Your result
Age:	Sex: M F	Time/distance/height:	Dec pts:
Age-grading
	Factor:	Age-graded result:	Dec pts:
Open std:	Age std:	Age-performance %:	2006 factors

 

I trust this will now make sense … enjoy playing with the table on the website and if it’s still confusing, I will try to explain personally … you can actually save the table to your own computer with your figures and continue using it off-line …very clever indeed!                                      

Events Diary: Most entry forms can be downloaded from race websites; others are likely to be on the club notice board.

 

Sun 06 May	THREE FORTS MARATHON, 10:00am, Worthing	26.2 miles	http://www.threefortsmarathon.org.uk
Mon 07May	SHINFIELD 10K, 10:30am,  Recreation Ground, Millworth Lane	10k	http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp=&v=2&EN=35325
	EAST HAGBOURNE FUN RUN, 11:00am, Village Hall	~5miles	http://www.easthagbourne.net Entries on the day (£2.50)
Tue 08 May	SILVERSTONE GRAND PRIX 10K, 7:30pm, Grand Prix Circuit	10k	http://www.silsonjoggers.org.uk
Thu 10May	IAH RELAY, 5:30pm, Cricket Field, Compton	4x2.5k	Teams to Dr Sue, Compton Harriers
Sat 12 May	ICKNIELD WAY ½ MTH & 10K, 10:00am, Chinnor	13.1 miles	See club notice board
Sun 13 May	THE HAIRY LEGS CHALLENGE, 10:00am, Goring	5k,20k,5k	http://www.hairylegs.org
	BENSON 10K & BUN RUN 4, 10:30am, Benson Parish Hall	10k	Benson, Oxfordshire
	WOODLEY 10K, 11:00am Headley Road, Woodley	10k	http://www.woodley10K.co.uk
Sat 19 May	MARLBOROUGH DOWNS CHALLENGE, 9:00am & 10:30am	33 & 20 miles	http://www.marlboroughrunningclub.co.uk
Sun 20 May	THE WINDERMERE MARATHON 2007, Cumbria, Lake District	26.2 miles	http://www.brathay.org.uk
	OXFORD TOWN & GOWN 10K, 10:30am, University Parks, Parks Road	10k	http://oxfordtownandgown.org
	PEWSEY VALE 10K, 11:00am Pewsey School, Wilcot Road	10k	http://www.pewseyvalerunningclub.com
Sun 27 May	ROPLEY 10K, 11:00am, starts from St Peter’s Church, in Church Street	10k	http://www.ropley10k.co.uk
Mon 28 May	KINTBURY 5, 10:30 Kintbury Village Hall	5 miles	www.newburyac.org.uk
Sun 03 Jun	THE CHILTERN CHASE, 10:00am Ewelme Village	10k	Entries;4 Wingfield Close, Ewelme, OX10 6JY
	NEEDLES XC ½ & FULL MARATHON,10am West Wight	26.2 miles	http://needlesxcmarathon.blogspot.com
	TRAIL RUN IN GLORIOUS GOODWOOD, 11:00am Country Park	10k	http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp=&v=2&EN=36145
Sun 10Jun	WARGRAVE 10K, 10am, Recreation Ground, Victoria Rd	10k	http://wargraverunners.net/Race_Instruction.html
Sun 17 Jun	RIDGEWAY RELAY, 7:30am, Ivinghoe Beacon	87 miles	www.marlboroughrunningclub.co.uk
Sun 01Jul	LAMBOURN 6K FR, 10:30am, The Lambourn Centre	6k	See club notice board
Sat 07 Jul	THE COMPTON CANTER, 2:00pm Compton recreation ground	~6 miles	http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk
Sun 15 Jul	CRAWLEY 10K (multi-terrain), 10:00am, K2 Leisure Cntre, Crawley	10k	http://www.stch.org.uk
	ST DOMINICS HAMBLEDON RUN, 10:30am, Godalming	6 miles	See club noticeboard
Sun 22 Jul	THAMES RUN, 11:30am Kinecroft, Wallingford	~13k	http://www.thamesrun.co.uk
Sun 16 Sep	THE BONESHAKER, 10:30am Ardington Sports Club	5k,20k,5k	www.bone-shaker.co.uk
Sun 07Oct	CRICKLADE 10K, ½ MTHN & FR, 10:30am Cricklade, Nr Swindon	10K,13.1m	http://www.crickladefunrun.co.uk
Sun 28 Oct	BEACHY HEAD MARATHON,9.00am, St Bede's School,  Eastbourne	26.2 miles	http://w